Quotes are from Paul Bravo from here That was clear when they did little to address the reasons they didn't make the play-offs in 2009. How exactly does the current state of the team give anyone comfort? No depth at forward and now with Clark's injury precious little attacking midfield depth. Dropping weekly in the standings, scoring well below the pace which left them out of the play-offs in 2009. Yet they are comfortable. This is where I get lost. Since week 12, they've dropped from 4th to 10th in the power rankings. The team has won one game in the last eight. Clark is now lost for the season. Only 3 teams have scored less then the Rapids. They think one piece will get them over the top. The reality that I see is they are in the middle and dropping. The top is spinning away and barely in sight. Lesson learned from Lopez maybe?
I love how some BigSoccer griping and a couple Facebook posts gets the FO to concoct interviews on the website. So here is my response: Paul, I'll believe it when I see it. You know you're not happy with the offense your team is generating. At least I hope to god you're not. A 1.1 goals/game average is nothing to cheer about. I wish you would have gone out and spent some money on a quality player during the transfer window, somehow I don't see free agents who can't get a job elsewhere providing as much value. Let's hope your sojourn to the transfer market yields more than Facundo Diz and Claudio Lopez who your coach didn't/doesn't seem to like. Perhaps you two need to get on the same page before the next signing.
Plus, what's more disruptive (on average)? Adding a player to the roster, or adding a player to the roster and removing a player from the roster? If you're worried about disruption isn't better to add somebody from outside to the roster instead of trading away a piece of the established roster to get a new player? Given that we're past the transfer window that's essentially what they're relying on now.
Or what is more disruptive to the roster; losing a bunch of games and missing the playoffs for the fourth straight year or signing one new player at a position of need on the team? You have two starting caliber forwards...that is it. I'm sure the other guys will understand when reinforcements come in.
C'mon now. You have to put on your Rapids thinking cap, rose-colored glasses, and use your Rapid-speak decoder ring. Here's what the RFO really means. The Rapids are quite comfortable now. They have exactly the right mix of players to lose a bunch of games, and finish out of the playoffs for the fourth straight year, thereby avoiding losing any players in the 2011 expansion draft. That, in turn, avoids disrupting the roster. Quite simple, really, when you see it the RFO way.
I think they can rearrange the deck chairs as much as they want (free agent, MLS & USL players) but they probably won't. They also could get a new Skipper (replace GS) and/or a new Engineer (replace JP) but they probably won't. I also don't see the ship's owner selling the vessel to someone who will change its course so for October I see a big hunk of ice ... again.
Now, now. That was soooooo 2010. We're talking about Rapid-speak for 2011. Surely you don't expect the Rapids to have continuity from season to season!
I would like to invite Paul Bravo to talk about how comfortable he, and the staff, is with the team. Specifically, I'd like to hear how is reconciles these two quotes with his team which has won once (on an own goal) in the last 9 games.
Albert Einstein once said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Just saying.
I don't know where they find these things to say. There must be a book out there--"The Complete Idiots Guide to Soccer Quotes".
This whole "don't want to distrupt the roster" mumbo jumbo is a bunch of mularky. I watched the match against Columbus last night and saw a collection of players who have been training and playing together for a long time now....and looked like they had no clue what the "teammate" near them was up to. Honestly, it's looked like that for a while now. I say, distrupt away people - the roster, the coaching staff, the FO...whatever it takes - what we got now clearly ain't working!
If only Phil Anschutz would reconsider his decision to turn over the franchise to KSE. He was our 1st owner and I sincerely believe that he followed the Rapids closely and he really wanted them to win that MLS Cup. If this train wreck keeps heading south, maybe he can pick up/reacquire the team again at a bargain price if these dolts keep running the team into the ground financially, and from a winning professional soccer team perspective. Maybe the guys & gals in the terrace can come up with some snappy "We Want Phil Back" chants & banners for the TV camera's at the next home match and keep it up til things change. It's still too early for the paper bags on your head trick... sigh..... wishfull thinking I'm afraid
Not that I'm feeling like this sort of thing will happen, but keep in mind Sigi's Crew twice finished 6th in the East before winning it all - Supporters Shield and MLS Cup - in his 3rd year in charge.
At the time I thought KSE would be a better owner for the Rapids because it was going to be their only MLS team. It always seemed like St. Phil loved LA more. However, looking back I remember seeing Phil sitting in the front row of his Regency theater at the Denver Pavilions watching the live simulcast of a playoff game in LA. He was sitting amongst the fans watching a telecast of a match he easily could have flown to see live. I don't even know if Stan has seen a live Rapids match let alone sat with fans to watch a telecast. What I didn't realize at the time was how the other sports franchises in the KSE stable would get so much more attention and funding than the Rapids. It was better having a soccer lover with a lot of teams than a general sports lover with a lot of teams.
Agreed, I had the same feeling. Oops. Supposedly the opening game of the Dick is the only Rapids match he's ever attended.
yet his bad toupee pops up at what? EVERY home game for the Nuggets, on the bench! for crying out loud. And I have seen him shown in the crowd at several Arsenal home games. The sad fact is that he has not given one of the tools this francise requires to be succesful: ie the slightest hint of personal interest. In fact quite the opposite. His boot licks at KSE know what side the bread is buttered on and it sure ain't at 6000 Victory way. Until the big man gives a cuss and deems this team worthy of his attention and applies the heat to the feet, until he quits the financially sound practice of things like "honouring contracts" and pulls out the stops to mold a winning franchise top to bottom, until then I expect these doldrums of middle of the pack to rule. Of course the opposite could be true and he becomes some horrible Al Davis-type vulturous spector at every home game as we slide into micro managed misery. But there is a middle ground i hope we can find. We could also get once in a lifetime lucky and hire another young Brian Clough on the cheap and do it all despite the disinterest radiating out of the Pepsi Center penthouse. Thats actually looking like our best shot at glory.